Nuclear watchdog chief seeks common ground with Iran ahead of Vienna talks

Tehran, Nov 23 (EFE).- The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency Rafael Grossi said he was seeking to find common ground and deepen mutual cooperation with Iran during his visit to Tehran on Tuesday.

Grossi’s remarks come a week before the talks to revive the Iran nuclear deal resume in Vienna after a nearly six-month hiatus.

“We are continuing at this point our negotiations with a view to finding common ground,” Grossi said in a joint press conference with Iran’s nuclear chief Mohammad Eslami in Tehran.

Grossi added he was working on “clarifying a number of issues” during his trip, and that he had agreed with Eslami “to continue our joint work on transparency.”

Grossi arrived in Tehran Monday night after the IAEA last week warned that Iran was blocking its inspection work and that the country had a stockpile of 17.7 kilograms of uranium enriched up to 60%, 7.7kg more than the amount permitted under the 2015 nuclear accord reached with the P5+1 (the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, France, China and Germany).

The administration of former US president Donald Trump, however, pulled out of the agreement in 2018 and re-imposed a series of sanctions on Iran.

Iran rejected the atomic watchdog’s accusations and said that it had shown compliance with the deal.

Grossi is set to meet with Iran’s foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian later Tuesday, in what will be the first meeting with the government of new president Ebrahim Raisi, who came to power in August.

To revive the pact, Iran is demanding the removal of US sanctions. EFE

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